Q: I know the Church Manual requires that “the Readers shall not read from copies or manuscripts, but from the books” (p. 32). Considering today’s technology with e-books and e-readers, the actual definition of a “book” is changing. Also, isn’t the Christian Science Quarterly itself a “copy,” with the Golden Text and Responsive Reading read from it instead of the Bible? So, would using an electronic version of the Bible and Science and Health that was perhaps authorized by the Church be acceptable to read from, such as on an electronic device?
A: Here’s some background about the last sentence of Article III, Section 4 (“Order of Reading”) in the Church Manual: “The Readers shall not read from copies or manuscripts, but from the books.” Reading Lesson Sermons from the Christian Science Quarterly (first published in 1890) was common in Christian Science churches without pastors, even before Mary Baker Eddy ordained the Bible and Science and Health as Pastor for the entire Christian Science denomination in 1895.
It’s clear from historical evidence that “manuscripts” in the context of this By-Law mean handwritten or typed extracts from the Bible and Science and Health, read at services. Mrs. Eddy placed high value on Science and Health being read accurately. Since mistakes can easily creep into handwritten or typed copies, reading from the authoritative text of a printed book would preclude this happening. But another issue that led to this sentence’s inclusion in the Manual was one of copyright. Copyright law, in part, is designed to make sure that an author may reap the financial benefit of his or her work, that the work is properly attributed to the author, and that the integrity of the work is preserved.
